Thyme herb is packed with numerous health benefiting phytonutrients (plant-derived compounds), minerals and vitamins that are essential for overall wellness. One of the popular among culinary herb plants, thyme originally is native to Greece, as the southern Europe and Mediterranean regions.
Botanically, it belongs to the family of Lamiaceae, in the genus of Thymus.
There are many subspecies of which the most popular variety is Thymus vulgaris. The thyme plant is a perennial shrub with a thin woody base and square stems. It reaches about 15 to 30 cm in length, featuring small, light-green with paler underneath, slightly curved aromatic leaves. Small, fragrant, lilac or white color flowers appear in summer.
Health benefits of thyme herb
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Thyme contains many active principles that known to have disease preventing and health promoting properties.
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Thyme herb contains thymol, one of the important essential oils. Thymol has been found scientifically to have antiseptic, and anti-fungal characteristics. The other volatile oils in thyme include carvacrol, borneol, and geraniol.
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Thyme contains many flavonoid phenolic antioxidants like zeaxanthin, lutein, apigenin, naringenin, luteolin,and thymonin. Fresh thyme herb has one of the highest antioxidant levels among herbs, a total ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) value of 27,426-µmol TE/100 g.
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Thyme is packed with minerals and vitamins that are essential for optimum health. Its leaves are one of the richest sources of potassium, iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, and selenium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron is essential for red blood cell formation.
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The herb is also a rich source of many important vitamins such as B-complex vitamins, β-carotene, vitamin-A, vitamin-K, vitamin-E, vitamin-C, and folic acid.
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Thyme provides 0.35 mg of vitamin B-6 or pyridoxine; furnishing about 27% of daily recommended intake. Pyridoxine keeps up GABA (beneficial neurotransmitter in the brain) levels in the brain which has a role as a stress buster.
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Vitamin-C helps the human body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
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Vitamin-A is a fat-soluble vitamin and antioxidant that is required maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin and is also essential for vision. Consumption of natural foods rich in flavonoids like vitamin-A and beta-carotene helps protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.